When patenting the glide-lock vise the examiner found all of the old engraving vise patents from way back. These were listed as prior art in the glide-lock patent. Anyway, these old vise patents are pretty cool to see. Some of these show up on ebay from time to time. Jerry Seymour sent some photos of one recently he won on ebay. Jerry, if you see this post, can you post the pictures of that old vise you have?

I have a Muehlmatt. It is not quite configured like the one pictured here. I can find no patent date on it, but it does have "The Special" engraved on it and "AD.MUEHLMATT MAKER CIN. U.S.A.". I am guessing that it only weighs about 5 or 6 pounds.
gail

Brian, I have only used it a little bit and it works as good as new.. I just bought it on ebay some time ago in a moment of weakness because I like old things that have survived mostly because of being well made, since I fit in that category myself I can appreciate.
They do show up fairly often there if you keep looking.
Gail

Brian, I want to add that it is very lightweight and mostly suitable for small items. If you are looking to buy a first vise I would recommend buying a standard size vise. There are many to choose from, and they can be used for larger as well as small pieces. Happy returns in your pursuit of engraving, and there is much on this site that you can learn from.
Gail

I remember watching an old Thai lady do beautiful script with just a simple push graver and what looked like an old cast iron ball with a "Cast in" groove and two 5/16 bolts on the side to hold things in the groove . She did it in between the street stalls ,while you waited ....